What are the Queensland Training Awards?

The Queensland Training Awards recognise and reward the outstanding achievements of individuals and organisations within the vocational education and training (VET) sector who strive for excellence, best practice and innovation.

Established 58 years ago, the awards are Queensland's most prestigious and longest running awards program for the training sector. They continue to celebrate the significant contribution made by Queensland's VET sector to the wider Queensland community and economy.

Why should I nominate myself or someone else for an award?

The Queensland Training Awards are the longest running training sector awards program in Queensland. The awards provide individuals and organisations with a unique opportunity to showcase their achievements, best practice and innovation in training.

The awards open doors for individual category winners, and provide employers, training and community-based organisations with recognition for their organisations and staff, as well as the chance to promote themselves in their local community as an organisation of choice.

How do I know if I'm eligible for an award?

Eligibility criteria for each category is available on each award category page. You can also contact your regional coordinator if you have any questions.

What can I win?

Winners at both regional and state levels are eligible for prizes, including certificates and trophies. However, the real prize is the recognition of your hard work, when you are named the best in your region or Queensland for your award category.

Is there a cost involved in applying?

No. There is no nomination fee to apply for any award. The only costs involved are related to time and effort required to complete the nomination process.

When do nominations close?

Nominations for the 2019 Queensland Training Awards closed on Sunday 17 March 2019.

Who can nominate for the awards?

Nominations in all categories are welcome from vocational education and training (VET) providers, employers and industry, other organisations and groups in the VET system, as well as individuals and the wider community.

All nominators should make sure that the person or organisation nominated meets the eligibility criteria for the award.

Some examples of who can nominate are:

Individual awards

A VET student, apprentice or trainee nominates themselves for an award.

An employer nominates one or more of their apprentices, trainees, or other employees in accredited training.

An organisation nominates one or more of their outstanding students (an organisation or individual can nominate more than one candidate).

A school or training organisation nominates a school-based apprentice or trainee.

A training organisation, student or group of students nominates one of their teachers/trainers for the VET Teacher or Trainer of the Year award.

Organisational awards

An employer of a business or training organisation nominates their own organisation for a relevant award.

A training organisation nominates a business or company for the Small, Medium or Large Employer of the Year award.

An industry association nominates an employer or a training organisation for the relevant award.

A training organisation that is working with local schools and an industry organisation to deliver nationally accredited training nominates for the Premier's Industry Collaboration Award.

Can a person or organisation nominate more than one individual for a particular award?

Yes, an organisation (e.g. training organisation or business) or individual can nominate more than one candidate for a particular award, provided all candidates meet the eligibility criteria. Nominating more than one candidate from the same organisation for the same award means they will be competing against each other.

Can a person or organisation nominate themselves for an award?

Yes, provided they meet the eligibility criteria for the award.

Can part of an organisation nominate for an award?

In the case of businesses, training and community-based organisations with activities in more than one state, only the training activities in Queensland will be considered for the award.

Where organisations have more than one workplace in Queensland, they must decide to nominate as a statewide organisation or as individual organisations. If the decision is to nominate as individual organisations, the organisation must lodge separate nominations for each location.

For an organisation that does not have vocational education and training as their core business, they are eligible to nominate the Queensland arm of their business or organisation for an employer award category.

In the case of the training provider award categories, the organisation's nomination should be for the entire Queensland operation, as a branch or a campus of a registered training organisation is not eligible to nominate individually. This is also the case for the Community Training Initiative of the Year category.

My organisation is a registered training organisation, which award do we nominate for — training provider or employer?

Being a registered training organisation does not necessarily mean the training provider categories are the right ones. The answer depends on your organisation's primary role:

if the organisation's primary role is training - Large or Small Training Provider of the Year categories

if the organisation's primary role is something other than training (e.g. selling products or services) - Small, Medium or Large Employer of the Year categories.

I have already completed my qualification. Am I still eligible to nominate for an award?

In general, individuals who have completed, or are due to complete, their apprenticeship, traineeship or qualification between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019 were eligible to apply for the 2019 individual award categories.

I'm of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. Which award do I nominate for?

If you nominate for any of the individual award categories (except for the VET Teacher or Trainer of the Year and Equity VET Student of the Year) and identify yourself as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (i.e. tick the appropriate box indicating that you are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent), you are then eligible to nominate for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year award.

To nominate, you simply need to tick an additional box indicating that you want to also nominate for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year award. When you complete your online nomination in the initial category, a nomination will then also be automatically submitted for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year award.

Can previous winners nominate again?

Yes. Previous winners and finalists may nominate again, provided they meet the eligibility requirements of that award.

Can I submit a hardcopy nomination?

The Queensland Training Awards nominations process is only available online via the online nomination portal. Unfortunately, we cannot accept hardcopy applications or attachments.

Is there a nomination size limit?

Yes. The nomination information for the relevant awards outlines word limits for each section of the nomination, as well as attachment type and file size limits.

What happens after I have submitted a nomination?

Once your nomination is successfully submitted, you would have received an automated email response confirming that your nomination has been received. All nominations will be assessed by a judging panel and shortlisted nominees will be contacted by phone in May 2019. Unsuccessful nominees will be notified by email in June 2019.

If I win at the state finals, will I go to the Australian Training Awards?

The Australian Training Awards will be held in Brisbane on 21 November 2019.

The Australian Training Awards are the peak, national awards for vocational education and training (VET), recognising innovation and excellence in the training sector. There are 18 award categories and the process for entering varies for each award category.

Queensland's winners from the individual categories (except for the Equity VET Student of the Year award, which is a Queensland-only award) are direct entry finalists for the national awards and do not need to complete a new nomination. They will attend the Australian Training Awards ceremony.

Queensland's winners from the organisation categories (except for the Community Training Initiative of the Year award, which is a Queensland-only award) are also direct entry nominees for the relevant national award category, however, only the top three shortlisted nominees from around Australia will attend the Australian Training Awards ceremony.

In addition, there are six award categories at the Australian Training Awards that are direct entry nominations: